Pages

Meta

What A Wake Up Call…

I live in Florida & last year I tried to use as an excuse that it’s just too hot to exercise… You see my apartment has ceiling fans & cross ventilation so I haven’t turned the air on in two years… I’m starting to appreciate that sweating is a good thing, it reminds me that I’m alive & taking more showers these days… I’m just getting into this & the concept is nothing more than common sense… I’m looking forward to getting on my Joy Rider by Trailmate… I’m now 75 years old & lost my husband to cancer over 4 years ago… It’s like I’ve been living in a fog since then…

Robin Williams death affected me tremendously… He was my favorite comedian/actor… That made me realize that I can no longer take my life for granted… I’ve always been an active person until I lost my Billy… I’ve gone through some really tough times since 2006… I thought his passing was the worst, but then I discovered that I could no longer afford to keep our home… I gave that back to the bank because we got caught up in that housing mess & I discovered that I wasn’t giving up that much… In order to move into an apartment it meant that I would have to find suitable homes for our two Great Danes, “Bubba” & “Patch”, named after Patch Adams… I was put in contact with a Great Dane Rescue in our area & they placed them each in a wonderful home… Anyone who knows me knows of my love for animals, especially dogs… That was like the straw that broke the camel’s back, having to surrender our two “Babies”… I had to pray for strength to follow that through, especially after having lost my Billy, but I did it…

My husband was a Vietnam Veteran who served “In Country” for 37 months… He was a Navy Seal… Needless to say he suffered from PTSD so I can attest from first hand knowledge the difference our dogs made in his life…

I was a self taught clown & did all of the parades in our county… I met Billy when I was in my clown character on Christmas Day, 1994… What an odd couple we were I suppose… We were very good for each other because we had differing, but not opposing views… He was the smartest man that I’ve known, however he had his demons to fight… He was a recovering heroin addict who’d been straight for 10 years & that was good enough for me… I was a recovering alcoholic who’d been sober for 3 1/2… AA made me a believer in second chances, or however many it takes… I learned a lot from my Billy & will always be grateful for that… We were together for 15 years & married for 7… I miss him tremendously, but now Robin is there with him to make him laugh… They would have been well suited as friends… I’m learning how to take better care of my health… I must be doing all the right things because my doctor told me that my heart is as strong as a bull’s… I do have 6 herniated discs from my neck down to my lower back so any exercise I want to do I need to modify to suit my needs… Physically I’m in great shape, but structurally, if I were a building I would be condemned…

Through Medicare I am a member of Silver Sneakers so I have something else to be grateful for… In the city where I live our Park & Rec Dept. has an Olympic size swimming pool less than 4 miles away where I can go for water aerobics in the summer… I discovered that my SS Advantage Insurance covers Silver Sneakers at my favorite Women’s Fitness Center… There is a pool & a gym there for my convenience when I want to reward myself for sticking with my program this winter so that problem is solved… I need to do this if I want to maintain the quality of life that I desire…

I went shopping last month for summer clothes that were on sale & bought a bunch of new tank tops, which I haven’t worn in years because of my upper arms… Self consciousness can be so limiting… No more… They’re right who say not to focus on image… The focus must be on the newly found freedoms that I’m discovering… I got Jon Gabriel’s free book on weight reduction… He’s such a marvelous inspiration, I decided to become an affiliate so I could spread the word… I’m also starting to lift weights with another program & learning to eat healthier with yet another program… Though I’m just into my first month I’m having a very good feeling that these will work for me… If you’d like to see what it is that I’m doing you can check it out at: